Starr – Tincup: Differentiation
Have you seen the recently renovated Starr – Tincup website? One thing is immediately clear. There is no other operation like Starr – Tincup in the HR – Recruitment industry. Irreverence, a penchant for the truth, an odd sense of humor and clear targeting of non-boomer demographics are the essence of the new site.
It’s about time.
The stodgy world of HR marketing and PR is in desperate need of a shake up. We live in a world where vendors seem incapable of distinguishing themselves from each other . Each new innovative entrant to the scramble for HR bucks positions themselves as “the leading technology” or “the market leader” or the “dominant provider” or some equally silly pretense of being alone in a field of 80,000 competitors.
It seems like everyone is scared that their branding will offend someone. Apparently, offending potential customers is the kiss of death. HR marketing is awful because HR marketing departments are always the most conservative parts of the organization. Great advertising and branding is always attention getting and a little offensive.
There are 8 Million purchasing entities in the HR Industry. No matter how good your company is, most of them are not going to buy you stuff . Good marketing chases the non-buyers (and the cost associated with figuring out that they’re just not that into you) away as fast as possible. In this case, throwing the baby out with the bath water is exactly what you want to do.
Our industry is a series of overlapping niches. You simply can not satisfy all of the buyers in all of the niches all of the time. But, since so few are good at targeting and defining their opportunities, marketing departments are forced to deliver a bland message.
No wonder the sales cycles are so long. Messages that confront, offend, inform or segment are nearly verboten.
That’s what’s so wonderful about Starr-Tincup. They have identified clear swaths of the market who are not their customer. They could care less if people in those segments don’t like them. They are not their customers.
As a result, the new site is delightfully pointed, irreverent and funny as hell.
The About Us section begins:
Rick Rubin, a guy versatile enough to produce albums for Jay-Z, the Beastie Boys, Johnny Cash, Neil Diamond, the Dixie Chicks and Lil Jon, once said, “With many artists, no one around them tells them the truth, so hearing the truth can be actually refreshing.” That’s what we try to offer our clients – a much-needed dose of candor, some phat beats, and, if we’re lucky, a Grammy.
The irreverence and humor goes on
However, one area that the Internet has improved, besides on-demand access to pornography, is the effectiveness and reach of direct marketing. Like porn, online marketing is easy to do badly and much better when handled by professionals. If you know what you are doing with your online strategy, you can do some cool stuff and get results. Too bad most people suck at it. And by “too bad,” we mean “fortunately for us.”
These guys have cojones.
Not everyone is going to be happy about the way they do business. Marketing in the enterprise business has become a refined sport. Rocking the boat like they do at Starr-Tincup will eventually take root there. But, in this down cycle, enterprise marketing is nuanced and procedural.
There are aspects of HR Marketing that require the routine cranking of the publicity machine and modest levels of SEO. This is also not Starr – Tincup’s forte. With this new site, they announce themselves as the gorilla of guerrilla marketing in the space. If what you want is rapid access to customers done with a shock and awe approach, this is your team.
Hoodies, street cred, gang signs, rap references, hip hop attitude and general brash newcomer stuff are the substance of their work. If you are lucky enough to be at the stage of development where their approach works, they know what they’re doing.
The new site is brilliant because it introduces real brand marketing into the game for the first time.
